Using Web Browsers

1. Click on the "Home" button in your browser.

a. What is the title and URL of the web page you are defaulted to?

The title of the webpage is New Tab, and the page has no URL, but instead says "Search Google or type a URL" in the search bar

b. Why did this appear? How can you change this default setting so that another web page automatically loads when you launch the web browser?

Most likely this appeared because the webpage is built in to the browser rather than hosted on a server, and since Chrome is programmed to search on google.com from typing into the tab, it wants to highlight this feature to new users.
You can go into Chrome settings to change the home page to whatever URL you would like through the "Appearance" menu.

2. Can you change the appearance of web pages within your browser (e.g., the font face and size)? If so, how? Why would you want to?

Yes, you can change font face and size as well as the browser's theme through the "Appearance" tab in settings.
This is not only important for personal preferences in aesthetics, but is a crucial accessibility feature for those who may have vision problems.

3. What's the default search engine associated with your web browser? How do you get to it?

Google is the default search engine for Chrome, and you can access it through typing anything that is not a URL into the URL bar at the top of the window.

Searching the Web

4. Head to Google (http://www.google.com.)

a. In the search box, type in "learning to make web pages" and click on the "Search" button. How many matches did you get?
Visit a couple of the sites in the search results list. Can you estimate how many of the searches actually relate to learning to make web pages?

Google found 9,690,000,000 results for the search.
Based on the first page, it seems like 9/10 results relate to learning to make web pages, with the 1/10 instead being an ad for Wix, a service that does the site-making heavy lifting for you.

b. Return to the front page of Google. In the search box, type in "learning to make web pages"(with quotation marks) and click on the "Search" button. How many matches did you get?
Link to a couple of the sites in the search results list. Can you estimate how many of the searches actually relate to learning to make web pages?

This time, Google pulled only 23,800 results.

Interestingly, while the results should have been more related to the query due to having a direct match in words, I found it to be more like 8/10 could be directly helpful, as along with ads there were some sites that just happened to use the words (such as another student's version of this assignment).

5. Are the number of hits consistent across search engines? If not, what do you think accounts for the differences? After looking at each of the above search engines, in what cases would you use a search engine that is not your current default (most likely Google)?

Bing and Yahoo had much less results with 225,000,000 each (the same number makes me think they use a similar, if not identical algorithm as opposed to Google), and DuckDuckGo and Kartoo did not display results.
Based solely on the number of results, Google appears to be the best search engine of the group. However, Kartoo has the advantage of being free of ads (while Bing has the disadvantage of being primarily ads).

6. Take a look at Wolfram Alpha (http://www.wolframalpha.com/). Is this a search engine? If not, what would you call it? If you decide that it is, list the reasons that you would classify it as a search engine.

While Wolfram Alpha is structured in a similar way to a search engine and is used to find information, I wouldn't consider it a search engine as its primary function is not to link users to other URLs through which they can find the information, but rather to provide the information itself.

Using Metasearch Sites

7. Head to Dogpile: http://www.dogpile.com.

a. What is the main difference between a metasite and a regular search site?

While a regular search site uses its own algorithm to produce results, a metasearch engine uses multiple other search engines, mixing their finds to produce its own results.

b. Do a search for learning to make web pages. How many matches did you get? How are the matches organized?

The site does not display how many matches it receives. The matches are organized in tabs by websites, images, videos, pages on news sites, and pages on digital storefronts.

c. Visit a couple of the sites in the search results list. Can you estimate how many of the searches actually relate to learning to make web pages?

Counting ads, about half of the sites relate to learning to make web pages. Not counting ads, about 8 or 9/10, as some non-sponsored content still advertises sites that make websites for you.

Finding Multimedia Elements

8. Either head to one of the search sites we've already used or head to one we haven't yet used and explore the front page of the site.

a. Is there a way to search specifically for multimedia?

Yes, Google has a way to search for multiple types of media.

b. If yes, what specific elements can you search for? What are your options? (If not, try another site!)

Google allows you to search for webpages, images, news, videos, shopping items, maps, books, flights, and finance (stock market information).

c. Do a search for a specific media item (e.g., your favorite song, a picture of Britney Spears). How many matches do you get?

I did a search for the trailer of Evil Dead 2, my favorite film, and Google found around 10,200,000 results.

d. Are there any warnings, disclaimers, or other information provided about using the results of your multimedia searches embedded in the search interface?

There were no disclaimers or warnings in the result.

9. Visit the Creative Commons site: http://www.creativecommons.org

a. What is creative commons? Why might you want to use this search engine for images and other media?

Creative commons is an organization that makes public domain art and resources to be freely used by others. You would want to use this search engine to find material that you can use for projects of your own without having to worry about licensing.

Put it all Together

10. Now that you have explored the world of search engines, reflect on the experience. What have you learned that might influence the choices you make as a web designer?

The most important thing that I learned is that once something is published on the web, it can no longer exist in a vacuum. Due to search engines, it can be found and accessed by anyone.
Therefore, it's important to be aware of the effect publishing the information might have on yourself or others. I also learned that if you want a website to find an audience, you have to keep search algorithms in mind in its design, using keywords that attract the attention of search engines without harming the user experience.